I am going to officially call the front of the house... Done. I know, there are a couple spots like the last board where the patio bricks are, under the porch lights I want to replace, and the edge that needs trim replaced from a satellite dish, but I am not counting those specialty spots that need other work done first. And besides... I just need to be able to call some part of this "Done".

Here it is...

Sadly, my blog has bogged down since basically the entire summer is dedicated to painting the house. So, I thought I would throw in a few tips I have learned.

The first being... if you don't have it, make it. Last year as I was painting about 2/3 of the large soffit (overhang) on the front of the house, I struggled mightily to not over-roll the white trim onto the back of the facia boards (like the previous "professional" painters did all over the place). This is a wildly difficult task while standing high up on a two story ladder and painting above, behind, and hanging half-way backwards with both arms shaking from the strain to mini-roll accurately with an extension pole and not smudge it. I did pretty well over all, but even so, two spots bumped and will need touched up when hubby is home to move the big ladder around with me.

So, especially since touch up in the rest of these areas is probably impossible because of ground angling away from the house, I needed something to guard against bumps. Viola! My second mini-roller, a few holes, and one screw later, and I have a bump rail that protects from over-roll, but folds out of the way when loading paint onto the roller and for the close-in section of rail.

Second tip is to use what works. I know it sounds insane to be painting my whole house with a mini-roller, but when it is just the right size for the siding boards and generally works to push paint under the board above without having to brush every single edge, it just ends up being the way to go. Yes... yes, it does take forever. But short of hiring a company to wildly spray a thin coat over the siding like was done before (and is already failing), it is sadly the "fastest" way I have found. If it works... use it.

And of course, last but definitely not least, the ever present "90% Prep". While on the exterior of a house it may be a little easier to roll your trim without needing to tape off the siding, or to over-brush where you know you will come back with the trim color on top, it is still time saving in the end to do good prep work.

For example... in addition to the nails all being in the wrong place (exposed, instead of hidden under the siding board above), they are almost all shot a little deeper than they should be. This leaves tiny pin-holes all around the nail, and sometimes worse, where water can get into the press-board siding and cause swelling, flaking, and water damage. While it takes an annoying amount of time to seal over every nail head, it will save a ton of siding repair/scraping/filling later. And just like in an interior wall, for some reason even the tiniest holes never fill with paint. Sealing them first saves a lot of time compared to trying to slop paint over and over to fill the holes.

And of course, scraping and sanding flaking paint away will make new paint stick to the wood and last that much longer. This is probably my least favorite step, but luckily it isn't the whole house... mostly just the wide facia boards around the top of the house. It is still a whole lot of work though. Luckily while hubby was home for a few weeks some time ago, we got the front done. Generally by hanging half off the roof and scraping with the hooks of hammers and sanding for hours, but it got done.

Unfortunately, the back and sides of the house will still need fully scraped and sanded and I haven't quite figured out how to get under the gutter on the back, either. That is a question for another day though.

My biggest challenge right now is trying to figure out how to paint areas that won't get rained on with early afternoon storms rolling through every day.

But in the meantime, I got my mini-hot-tub drain replaced and back in working order. So after a hard day's work I can toss on my swim-suit and soak in the jets and bubbles.

Yeah... it needs a nice surround built for it, but that is a project that comes after finishing painting the house, re-laying the patio bricks, and taking a long winter nap... or two.

Notify me of new Comments/Replies to this post by email Remember my Email for future comments

Your Email is Never Shared. Email is only required if you want to be notifiedof new comments or if you are entering a give-away.

Please Type This Verification Code: fan60h(Code is case sensitive.)

TinkerT Terms & Disclaimer

Step one to DIY is safety. Use applicable safety equipment, read instructions, and handle all tools with care. While this site encourages a Do-It-Yourself attitude and has ideas and how-to posts, it is not responsible for any problems that arrise from attempting similar DIY projects.
Familyweb.us and TinkerT makes no representations or warranties of any kind (expressed or implied) about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or gramatical correctness of any information or recomendations contained on this site or found by following any link on this site. All the information provided on TinkerT is for general information and entertainment purposes only. Following any advice or information on this site is done "At Your Own Risk". Under no circumstances will Familyweb.us or TinkerT be liable for any loss or damage (including without limitation direct, indirect, or consequential loss or damage) arising from use or misuse of information provided in this website.
Copyright Policy - Unless otherwise noted, Familyweb.us is the legal copyright holder of all material on this website. Submitions and comments will be considered the property of Familyweb.us and may be used, whole or in part, for purposes on the site or other related projects. Please feel free to copy and reprint any portion of the articles and posts on this site. However, you must include a clear label for where you got the material and include a link to the appropriate page for the post that material was copied from.
The opinions expressed by any Third Parties (including commenters) are their own and do not represent the position or believe of Familyweb.us or TinkerT. TinkerT reserves the right to remove or edit comments for any reason deemed nessesary, including, but not limited to: spam, offensive language, inapropriatness, and general rudeness.
TinkerT will never sell or share your email with any third party and will not send you advertizements or spam.
Familyweb.us and TinkerT reserve the right to change the focus of, close, or sell this blog site without warning.

While TinkerT and Familyweb.us strive to ensure all posts and comments are PG13 or less, it makes no guarantees of this and requests that anyone under 17 ask their parent's permission before signing up for the newsletter or reading this site.

These terms and conditions are subject to change at anytime without notice.